New Zealand Day 6 2016

Thought for the day. Let’s try not to kill anyone in the rental car.

So I have the house to myself this morning. It's given me a chance to relax and get my thoughts squared away. Everything so far has worked out pretty well considering this trip kind of got thrown together at the last minute . So I have just a little time to go over my travel plans and itinerary. Once Billy comes back I will go off and rent a car. Also, I will try not to kill people. Driving on the wrong side of the road, going to take a little getting used to.

It is so decided that all rental cars, no all cars must have blue tooth. Holly crap. It just makes life so easy! That in conjunction with having a sim card with DATA! Now I can listen to my own music, and get directions via Google maps through the car speakers! Just makes things so easy! Having a car also means freedom. It's great to visit people, but you don't want to wear out your welcome.

I got the car loaded it up with camera gear and went off to Castle Hill. Dirty little secret stopped at Subway on the way out of town. Please don’t think less of me. It was interesting while getting a soda. There was one, I don't remember what it was called. I do remember that prominently on the label it said "Made in New Zealand". New Zealand is a small country. There is nothing wrong with that, and no way around it. It reminded me of an article I read about Madonna's brother. She has a brother. Can you imagine being her brother. Your whole life will be compared to her. You most likely will never stand on your own. Somewhere in your accomplishments and just who you are as a person will be Madonna's brother listed. That is a huge shadow to get out from under. Maybe we should have a little more of that here in the US.

So driving on the wrong side of the road is a little bit interesting. I found that works for me, is not only preplanning but before I get into the car telling myself that "I'm driving on the Left!" It's not just driving that you have to be careful of. On the way up to Castle Hill I stopped for pie. I got an incredible strawberry rhubarb pie. Now I parked the car across the street. Normally, in the U.S. you would look right, look left and start across the street, then make sure it's still clear on the right and cross all the way. Well there was a RV off to the right. So I didn't see the Semi that was hauling ass up the road from the right. I looked right (view blocked by RV), and then looked left. Thankfully something in the back of my mind got me to stop about 4 feet from the edge of the curb. Good thing to, otherwise the pie and I would be a comingled smear on the pavement. I was going to have more fun with a semi the next day.

Back in the car, heart rate back to normal. I continued on my way up to Castle Hill. One of the problems with traveling by yourself, and more specifically me in particular. Is that I'm easily distracted by photo opportunities. Like a cat with a laser pointer, easily distracted. So I stopped for a few photos, and got a shocking learning experience. There was a nice little Meadow and I thought a picture of the sheep would be cool. Also required, there are a lot of sheep in New Zealand. So I set up my tripod just a little too close to the electric fence. An aluminum tripod conducts electricity just fine! So I got the great photo, well actually it's a horrible photo. It's all cockeyed. What I like about it, is it's me getting shocked and staggering away from the fence. After regaining full motor control I decided it was time to move on. More photos in the mountains. It's just so magical here. There aren't very many people around. It's just so beautiful, quiet, serene, and for me new.

Finally I made it to Castle Hill! It’s just wild, all of these rocks, big rocks that have been just kind of pushed up out of the ground in this great formation. It really looks like something from another world or from Lord of the Rings or some other sci fi fantasy world. I think that's one of the great things about New Zealand, is just that there is so much cool, stimulating, and diffrent stuff to see. You start by walking up this short trail to the base of the rocks. It gives you a really nice kind of over view of the area. Looking down the line of the rocks on the hill, just amazing. There are small trails that lead up and through the rocks. I just remember walking through and being in awe. I scrambled up top to a nice area as the sun was setting. The beautiful sunset was a great end to the day. As I was coming down the hill I saw some photographers coming up the trail. They were going to do some star shots and some light painting. I really wanted to hang out with them but I was going to go I have dinner with hosts Billy and Kelly and the sky was getting more overcast not less. So I decided to head on out. I did make a note to bring my flashlight when I came back through here to go to Arthurs Pass. Very exciting, tomorrow I'm going to go off to Mt. Sunday otherwise known as Edoras! In the land of Rohan!